2 minute read
And the award goes to…
by WCDOA pubs
by Deona Strydom
MMarta Klein made the Karoo proud by receiving the first Ministerial Award for Perseverance from the Western Cape MEC for Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer. She received the award in November 2022 at the Western Cape Provincial Agri Awards, hosted at the Grand West Casino and Entertainment World. Not only did she receive this prestigious award on the night, but also came up as the provincial winner in the category: Agri-processing. A true victory for the Central Karoo!
Marta was born in the Karoo and grew up in farming communities in the district. In 2009 she was appointed as the forewoman in the butchery on the farm Baakensrug near Nelspoort. Here she is responsible for the general management of the butchery, which includes processing and packaging of red meat and game products.
This is not the first time that Marta has received accolades for her work and leadership, as she has been involved with the Western Cape Prestige Agri Awards since 2016. In this competition, she won several awards at district and provincial level in the categories agri-processing and junior/middle management. In 2017 she was also announced as the Central Karoo regional winner in this competition and in 2018 she won the WCDoA Female Entrepreneur Awards in the category Best Female Worker.
Watch this!
Scan the QR code or visit http://bit.ly/3SqOuxC to watch the video: ‘2022 Western Cape Prestige Agri Awards Gala Ceremony’.
Marta also plays an important role in the development and progress of agri-workers in the Central Karoo.
She makes it her responsibility to voice the challenges of agri-workers and has been the chairperson of the Nelspoort area and Central Karoo district farm worker forums for a number of years.
Marta is also an extremely thankful person, always giving recognition to her Father in heaven, her family, colleagues and most of all her employers, Roland and Lizelle du Toit of Baakensrug farm.
Learn more!
Please buy local and support the Central Karoo red meat and wool industry. To taste Marta’s high-quality products and learn more about Baakensrug farm, scan the QR code or visit www.baakensrug.com
We would also like to thank the Du Toits for their continued support to the Central Karoo Regional Competition, development of agri-workers and exemplary relationships with their employees. Baakensrug, a working Angora, Merino and hunting farm, has won the regional Best Performing Farm of the Year Award in the Central Karoo on four occasions since they started participating in 2016 and has delivered several regional and provincial winners.
This year Jerome Robertson, also from Baakensrug, won the provincial award in the category Animal Production
Acknowledgements
We would also like to thank our regional coordinators, Bethany Rural Ministries, for all their hard work and making dreams come true in the middle of the Karoo. AP
On a more personal note, Marta has also overcome breast cancer once and is now fighting another battle with the big C. She doesn’t let this get her down and uses her story to motivate others to stay strong and overcome any obstacle that might come their way. This was also the motivation behind her receiving the Ministerial Award for Perseverance.
For more information, contact Deona Strydom:
